2009
by cowboy12
Summary: This story goes in a completely different direction post season 5 finale and the sonogram. I do no own rookie blue.
1. Chapter 1

So this is a completely different approach to the sonogram in the season finale, and the 2009 date that viewers noticed on the picture.

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><p>Dov looked at Marlo with surprise. Who leaves this kind of thing lying around he wondered.<p>

"Hey Marlo?"

She returned his gaze, although almost seemed to be looking past him. "Leave it Epstein, please."

"Is it part of the MacDonald case?"

"Not exactly" she says.

"Well then, what exactly is it?"

"I 'm sorry Epstein, but I can't get into this with you." With that, she grabs her bag, and the sonogram and leaves.

Dov is disturbed by her sudden departure. What does he do now? If Marlo is pregnant, is the baby Swarek's? Has she been seeing someone else? Poor Andy, especially after everything that has already happened today.

The next day Dov tries to talk to Sam in the lunchroom to get a timeline on his breakup with Marlo. Fishing is never easy, and fishing with a personality like Swarek's is even worse. He decides to bite the bullet and just come out and ask him if Marlo is pregnant.

"So Swarek, maybe this isn't my place, but Andy is one of my best friends and this has the potential to really hurt her, and…"

"What is it Epstein you been dancing around something for the past hour, out with it."

"Is Marlo pregnant?"

Sam stares blankly at him. "Um where did that come from?"

"Well, um.." Dov is stuck. If she is pregnant, she hasn't told Swarek, and now I have let the proverbially cat out of the bag.

"Out with it," Sam insists.

Dov proceeds to explain the events of the night before to a mildly annoyed Sam Swarek. Mildly annoyed, who was Dov kidding, the guy was fuming.

"First off, if she is pregnant, it is almost certainly, not mine. I won't go into details with you, but I would bet my badge on it. Secondly, this kind of station gossip can only lead to problems for McNally, so I would appreciate if you kept this to yourself till I talk to Marlo. Okay?"

Dov nods, and dismisses himself from the lunchroom.

Sam sits at his desk and replays his conversation with Epstein. He did his best to convince Epstein the possibility of Marlo's baby being his was absurd, but…

He was always very careful, except for a couple of times with Andy the first time they were together. He never wanted kids, at least not until her. Things with Marlo were never complicated (or so he thought before Kevin Ford) and he always made sure they would stay that way. Besides they hadn't been together in a long time, she would have been showing if it was his, still he needed to talk to her. She was supposed to be back in today to finish things up with the MacDonald case, maybe he could talk to her then.

Just as he was about to go see Oliver, Marlo walked up to the D's area.

"Hey" she said, "quite a mess of a day yesterday, how is Andy feeling?"

"She's good, a little sore but I think after what could have happened we're feeling pretty lucky. How are you doing? Any new developments, or are you just here to pack things and take them downtown?"

"As it stands right now, the investigation died with MacDonald, so I am just finishing up some of the reports and then I will be out of here. I can probably look after it on my own if you would prefer?," Marlo offered.

Sam hesitated, then started in, "Are you pregnant Marlo? Epstein said he say a sonogram photo in your stuff the other day."

"Who else did he tell besides you?"

Sam tried again, "you're not answering the question?"

"No Sam, I am not pregnant so you and McNally can continue with your little fairytale."

"That wasn't why I was asking, if you were, it wouldn't have been mine, and we both know that. I was curious if you were seeing someone and I hoped that you were happy if it was true.

Marlo looked away, then finally spoke. "I'm not seeing anyway right now, and I am sorry, but seeing you two together only confirms that it was always her, even when you tried to be with me and I 'd be lying if I said it didn't hurt. I thought I could make you forget her, but that's not possible for anybody. Look, I have to go, I'll finish the reports later."

With that, she was gone.

Sam thought about the things Marlo said. He was so wrong to get involved with her, or anybody for that matter. That night in the truck with Andy after she came back from Dakota he should have told her what he was feeling. He was stubborn, and she hurt him when he she left and that left him thinking that maybe they weren't meant to be together.

It just seemed easier, and yeah, less complicated to stay with Marlo. What an idiot he had been.

He went to the other desk to look over the files, and there it, was the sonogram. It was buried underneath crime scene photos and officer's notes. It was dated 2009, obviously Epstein missed that part of the picture. Why would this be with the files, and who did it belong to. Sam wanted to talk to Marlo about it when she came back, but she hadn't been very forthcoming the first time so maybe he needed to get more information before he confronted her again.


	2. Chapter 2

Before his morning got completely away from him, Sam needed to find Oliver. He wanted to review the tapes of MacDonald, and any security tapes within the building. He was heading to Oliver's office when a familiar voice from the parade room changed his direction.

"Sammy, how is McNally this morning? Taking it easy as she was instructed?" Oliver asked, almost as a joke knowing she would keep saying she was fine.

"She's is actually, I think she was a little more worried than she let on yesterday."

"Who wouldn't be, it kept me up most of the night," Oliver added. "Listen we didn't talk much about the investigation after the bomb in evidence, but there are some things we need to go over and I'd rather do it in my office."

"Sure thing," Sam replied and continued in that direction.

When Oliver stepped into his office, he quickly closed the door and turned to Sam, his expression anything but happy. "So we've been around this place a long time and both know how rumours fly and most of the time, they're nothing but rumours."

"Oliver," Sam interrupted. "If this has anything to do with Marlo, I 've already heard it. And I can tell you, there is absolutely no truth to it. I talked to Marlo this morning although I was almost completely certain before I did, but I got confirmation from her anyway."

"Good. I don't mind telling you that I am relieved to hear that. You and McNally have finally gotten your act together and I'd hate for this to come between you. Of course that doesn't mean that she hasn't heard the rumour. Even though she is off for the rest of the week, one of her friends may have given her a heads up. You might want to check in with them, or her."

"Jesus Oliver, you don't really think it could have gotten back to her, do you?"

"Like I said Sammy, you know how this place can be. You might want to give her a call when we're done here." Oliver's face grew stern as he prepared himself for the other discussion he really didn't want to have. "So about the investigation, last night you said that MacDonald killing himself made absolutely no sense. I got thinking about it, and had Epstein copy all the interview tapes, and the building's security tapes. SIU is sending someone over to pick all that stuff up because as you know, it is now their investigation. We are very quietly going to review things ourselves. I don't want Diaz thrown under the bus as some sort of scapegoat, but Sammy, this has got to be done very low key."

"Agreed," Sam acknowledged. "Can I use Epstein? He was involved from the intelligence side of it, and I'd like to use him to help me go over the tapes."

"Already taken care of brother. We talked this morning about the delicateness of the situation and he is as anxious as anyone to find out what was behind the explosion in the evidence room, and looking into MacDonald's booking," Oliver added. "So you guys get to it, and let me know what you find."

"I found the sonogram that seems to be the source of all of today's rumours in the MacDonald file this morning. Oliver it's from 2009. What the hell would it be doing in the file? I'm telling you something is way off here."

"Well make sure you look at everything, and Sammy, tread lightly here."

Sam nodded and left the office. He wanted to get to the bottom of MacDonald's suicide and the bombing in evidence, he just wasn't sure everyone else wanted the truth to come out. It wasn't going to be an easy road and Sam wanted to keep Andy as far away from it as possible.

As Sam sat at his desk, his mind drifted to Andy. He had been terrified when he couldn't find her in the evidence room after the explosion. He had never felt that panicked in his life. They were finally in a good place and he knew he couldn't lose her again. She was it for him, a year without her had confirmed that. By the time they got to his place last night all he wanted to do was hold her in his arms and make the days events go away. Once in bed, emotions engulfed them and they made love with a desperation he hadn't felt before. Andy drifted off shortly after, with him not far behind. He wanted to spend the rest of his life sleeping next to the only woman he ever loved. When the alarm went off in the morning he couldn't believe they had slept through the night. Andy looked almost peaceful as he pulled his arm from under her and eased himself out of the bed trying not to disturb her.

His thoughts were interrupted by the buzzing of his cell phone.

"Hey I was just thinking about you" he said with a smile.

"Sam, Traci just called me. Have you heard what's going around about Marlo?" Andy's voice barely audible as she choked back sobs.

Shit, Sam thought, this place is too much some times. "I'm sorry I should have called you. She's not pregnant Andy. Apparently the truth has yet to spread around here." There was nothing but silence on the other end. "McNally, you still there?"

"Sam I just knew it, I knew something was going to happen. Things can never be easy for us, I just knew it. I told you…" she cried in the phone.

"McNally, Andy. Did you hear me? Marlo's not pregnant. Andy?"

"Are you sure Sam, I mean really sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure. Andy I can't get into this with you over the phone, I'll come by at lunch and I'll tell you everything. Ok?" Sam asked, almost in desperation.

"Ok," she surrendered. "But remember you promised me our honeymoon phase wouldn't be over when she came back. I'm trying to trust you here, please don't break your promise."

"Don't worry, that won't happen. I'll be there as soon as I can, and Andy… I love you." Sam heard only dial tone as she hung up. He had to go and clear this up for her right now. The MacDonald file would have to wait. He quickly stopped to tell Oliver where he was going and headed to the parking lot.

Two hours later Sam entered the station and looked around for Epstein. The sooner they got started on the puzzle the sooner they would figure out where the pieces fit. Andy had dropped him off at the station so she could use his truck to drop by her place and get some clothes. She also had a few errands to run, but would come get him after shift. She was a sobbing mess when he got to his place earlier. As he filled her in on all the details, she finally relaxed and understood why he wouldn't talk on the phone. Just as he had expected she wanted to help with the investigation. If the corruption ran as deep as MacDonald had alluded, Sam would keep her as far away from this as possible. He made a mental note to have that very discussion with Oliver when he got the chance.

Epstein was already deep into the file when Sam settled in to his desk. "So Epstein have you started going through any of the tapes? I'm thinking we should start with MacDonald's booking. Diaz was sure he was thorough and it would be good to get him cleared quickly."

"I was just organizing the paperwork before you got here. Did you see the picture of the sonogram in the file?" Dov inquired gently.

"Yeah, and unfortunately nobody noticed the 2009 date on it BEFORE it got back to McNally."

"Aah yeah I didn't see that, so I guess that caused some trouble for you guys, sorry."

"I saw her at lunch and filled her in with everything I could so it's fine now. Let's just drop it. You start with the security tapes and I'll go over the booking tapes. Remember that nothing is too small to question. We need to be as quick and thorough as possible but let's keep this between you, me and Oliver." Sam hoped Epstein could sense the caution in his tone.

The hours of watching frame after frame of tape dragged on. Epstein took a break with Price but was back at it quickly, while Sam went to check in with Oliver.

"We've got nothing so far. Looks like Diaz was diligent in his search of MacDonald. Seriously Oliver if the guy had a razor blade on him, I've got no idea where he could have been hiding it."

"That's good for Diaz Sammy, but where the hell did he get it from then?"

Their conversation was interrupted by a text to both of them from Epstein telling them he needed to see them both, immediately.

They replayed the tape three more times trying to figure out exactly what they were seeing. Marlo had the bagged hard drives and was talking to the commissioner. He seemed to be discussing the bags with her and then they both went into the lunchroom. Marlo emerged from the lunchroom alone and continued to the evidence room. Unfortunately there were no tapes from the lunchroom. If there was anymore to find out about the encounter, they would have to talk to Marlo.

By the time Andy came to pick Sam up, it was after 8 o'clock. The day had been draining on both of them although for very different reasons. She didn't want to feel insecure about them, but Marlo's return had thrown her. To his credit Sam had been great at reassuring her it was over long ago, still she couldn't shake the sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. She had made pasta and salad for dinner and they sat quietly in the kitchen eating. When she got up to take her plate to the counter, she finally caved.

"Sam, I was wondering if I could have that key now?"

"Not interested in being a stallion anymore McNally?"

"Never mind then if you're just going to be an ass about it."

Sam walked over to the counter and wrap his arms around her, "Maybe today isn't the best day to tease you, sorry. I'll go get it for you." When he came back from his bedroom he paused in the front hall then walked into the kitchen. He handed her the key, along with his spare truck key.

Tears pooled in Andy's eyes. As Sam pulled her into a hug and wiped away a single tear with his thumb, he acknowledged softly. "I promise I won't ask for it back, and I know I should have handled it differently when I offered it to you last week. And you're right sometimes I'm just an ass. It's been a long day, can we just relax and watch some TV?"

"Ok, but let's go to the bedroom and watch, my ribs are a little tender and I think I'd like to be laying down."

"Why don't you have a hot shower while I clean up the kitchen?"

" That sounds like a good plan," as she leaned in to kiss him then headed to the bathroom for her shower.

Yeah, Sam thought like this for the rest of his life would be just…


	3. Chapter 3

**Sorry for the long delay. I struggled with this chapter and am not sure I like how it reads, but we'll see. Not near as many McSwarek stories as there usually is. Perhaps S5 was a feel good fanfiction for all of us.**

Andy woke before the alarm and padded quietly to the kitchen to make coffee. Sam would be up shortly and she wanted to make breakfast for them before he left for the station. She was getting so bored at home, and the doctor wouldn't sign off for her to go back to work for at least another five days. She had no idea how she was going to fill her time away from the station, especially since Sam wasn't off with her. As she walked back to the bedroom, she heard Sam getting in the shower. Andy finished making the bed just as Sam walked out of the bathroom.

"Hey, I didn't hear you get up."

"That's the point Sam; I'm supposed to be quiet so you can sleep till your alarm goes off."

"I know," he admitted. "I was just hoping for you to wake me up like you did yesterday"

Andy blushed as Sam slid passed her and kissed her cheek.

"Can't have you getting sick of me Detective... you know too much of a good thing and all that."

"Not much chance of that happening McNally, I told you, you're my kinda girl and I think I'm gonna want you around for a long time."

"Really? You who never thought about anything beyond today," she couldn't help but laugh.

"What can I say; I'm a man with a plan." He kissed her softly and headed for the coffee smell in the kitchen.

The morning had been spent going over the interview tapes. The explosion and ensuing alarms had shut down the station's power before the backup power supply kicked in. As a result the interview tapes stopped before MacDonald's suicide and didn't turn back on with the backup power. Sam and Oliver figured the suicide wouldn't be on camera, but they thought for sure the system would have re-activated itself. Epstein was the 'techyist', so it was his job to fragment as much time together from all the tapes as he could. None of them liked Marlo talking to the commissioner with the hard drives in her hand before she went to evidence. If Ted MacDonald had been right about the commissioner, was Marlo somehow involved too? The tapes should have brought answers, but instead they just raised more questions.

"You want to call her, or do you want Epstein to do it?" Oliver asked. He knew Andy wasn't thrilled about Marlo's return and if it turned out she was involved in McNally almost getting blown up Sam would be wondering what the hell he had done, bringing this down on all of them.

"I don't know if we can call her yet. What if she is involved, we can't give her a heads up that she is on our radar Oliver." Sam paused. "Maybe we need to find out about the sonogram. She never denied it being hers and with the 2009 date on it and her to be that freaked out, I just think there has to be some kind of connection. Oliver, she's the one that wanted Andy to go get the hard drives from evidence when I asked for them. If she knew anything about the bomb she sent her right into harm's way. I can't get my head around it. It's my fault for getting involved with her in the first place."

"Sammy there is no way this is your fault. We are talking about people who may or may not have made choices, on their own, to get involved in some serious corruption. You need to stay focused on the case, nothing else."

Sam knew Oliver was right and he needed to stay focused but the thought that he may have been directly connected to Andy almost being killed was going to stay with him for a long time. He remembers how shocked he was when he first found out Marlo was bipolar. He asked himself repeatedly how he never saw any signs in her behaviour only to realize he wasn't really looking. It was obvious he had checked out of that relationship long before it ended. And now she was here again and exacting revenge on him and the rest of 15? It was hard to imagine that Marlo could be a part of all of this, but the truth was, he didn't really know her at all.

His thoughts were interrupted when Epstein asked them to go to Morty's diner for lunch. Leaving the station would give the three of them a little more freedom to talk.

"Oliver we have spent a lot of time on the tapes and are still coming up with nothing to move forward with." Dov was the first to voice his frustration.

"We are going to need some help from someone higher up in the ranks Shaw. What about bringing Peck in to help us and then asking him to get the senior Pecks involved once we have something concrete to take to them," Sam offered.

"What have you found relating to the 2009 sonogram?" Oliver asked, not sure how he wanted to proceed yet.

"Nothing yet, we spent most of our time going over the tapes. Do we still have a copy of Cruz's personnel file at the station? If it is hers, maybe we start with finding out where she was working in 2009. That may lead us to more people to talk to to find out why this would be part of MacDonald's file. Sam wanted to find answers anywhere.

"I know this may not be a popular opinion, but I worked with her and I just can't see that she would be involved in this by choice. For all the problems and the Kevin Ford drama aside, she's a good cop." Epstein defended. "Maybe she was being blackmailed?"

"It might explain why she was promoted to intelligence just months after the fallout here. Somebody wanted her to be where they need her, when they needed her. Considering the interaction on tape with Cruz and the commissioner he would be the right person to offer an alternative to resigning." Sam said, also hoping there was an explanation to Marlo's actions beyond getting back at him and Andy.

They finished their lunch and headed back to the station. Dov went back to the tapes, and Sam to Oliver's office to look at Marlo's personnel file. Sam felt a little uneasy going through her life like this. As they read about her various postings and achievements he felt almost ashamed at how very little he knew about the woman he had spent the better part of a year with.

"Sammy I tried to tell you man, your heart just wasn't in it the moment McNally came back from UC but you were too stubborn to listen," Oliver offered, knowing what Sam was thinking as they read the file.

"I know you did, and I never really thanked you for having my back through it all."

"Always."

"So Marlo, know anything about her time on SWAT? That's where she was in 2009."

"Not really, no. We just never really talked much about, well, anything. I think there might have been a guy though. When she was off her meds she talked about an ugly breakup and maybe the guy was her married superior. I'm not really sure Oliver. Like you said, my heart wasn't really in it."

"Well according to this her direct boss was Mike O'Hare. That name doesn't mean anything to me, how about you?"

Sam laughed at the thought, "no don't think so, but doing UC all those years, you never really travel the same circles as the SWAT teams."

"Let's ask Bailey. He spent time on SWAT before he transferred to ETF. He might be able to shed some light on this and I know he'd want to know who was ultimately at the bottem of all that has happened over the last few days. Oliver decided to use his cell phone when he called. "Voice mail Sammy. I'll leave him a message to call me on my cell as soon as he can. I think that's all we can do for today. How about a beer at the Penny?"

"Sure, let me just call Andy to let her know I'm going out with you." Sam headed to the locker room. Epstein was already changed. "Hey, coming to the Penny with Oliver and me?"

Dov grinned from ear to ear. Did Swarek just ask him to hang out. Working with him was great, but socializing with him was over the top. "Yeah sure, that'd be great. Should I wait for you guys here or just meet you there?"

"McNally has my truck, so if I could catch a ride with you, we can meet Oliver there."

Dov and Sam waited at the bar. When Oliver finally arrived they grabbed a table near the back. It was quiet for a Thursday and lately it seemed less and less of 15 hung out here. Gone were the days of Sam, Jerry and Oliver closing the place.

"So Epstein what is going on with you and Price. She's not looking very happy these days and something tells me it has to do with you," Oliver asked in his fatherly voice. "Come on, it's been a tough day and we are not going to talk about work, so tell us what's the problem. Maybe Sam and I can help."

Sam shot Oliver a look of confusion. He didn't like talking about his own personal life never mind someone else's, but...if they were talking about Epstein maybe Oliver would stop asking about him and Andy.

"The whole husband thing really through me, and I just don't know if I can trust her." He decided not to convey the Wes-kissing-Chloe-on-tape part, even though he knew that had been the final straw. They had had lunch a couple of days ago to try to clear the air in order to work together, but for him that's all it was.

"You guys were good together, and I saw you after she was shot. You were sick with worry man. If there is any chance to work it out you have to try. Right Sammy?"

"He's right Epstein, sometimes the best thing in your life, is the one thing you were stupid enough to walk away from. Don't let that happen because you may not be lucky enough to get a second chance."

"Are we still talking about me here?" Dov asked, as his gaze shifted from one to the other.

Oliver laughed, "So Izzy got me to talk to Zoe about her coming to live with Celery and me. I guess things have been pretty tense between them over the last few months. Anyway Zoe agreed and Izzy's moving in this weekend. I also made arrangements for her to go to art school at the end of this semester. It feels good to have something positive going on after the week we have all had. I just want you to think about how happy she made you and remember everything happens for a reason."

Two beers and the world problems solved, Oliver asked, "Sammy you want a ride?, cause I'm gonna head home now."

"Sure, unless you want to stay for one more Epstein? McNally's out with Nash so I'll stay if you're not quite ready to go."

"You know what, I gonna call it a night too, maybe I'll give Chloe a call when I get home. Just to see how she's doing. Thanks for the talk." Dove grabbed his jacket and waved as he headed out the door.

Oliver smiled, "Let's get going Sammy, tomorrow is a new day."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

**So apparently someone out there doesn't like the idea of Marlo being involved in the bombing or that Sam may look in her direction as part of his theory. To them I say, you can always write your own story, and you don't have to continue reading mine.**

**To anyone else reading, sorry for the long delay in updating. Life does get in the way. **

**I just starting watching Rookie Blue this spring. Saw Season 5 being advertised so I thought I would like to catch up in order to start watching. I breezed through the DVD's for Seasons 1-3 before I started watching Season 5. I have now just been able to watch Season 4 on Mystery although I did catch some scenes on youtube. I'm glad I saw Season 5 before Season 4. It would have been very depressing to go through that entire season not KNOWING Sam and Andy would get back together. You poor McSwarek shippers.**

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><p>Sam leaned back in his chair reviewing his notes contemplating the next direction their investigation would take. Oliver was right, today was in fact a new day and this thing seemed to be taking on a life of its own.<p>

Bailey had called Oliver this morning and while he shed light on Marlo's time at SWAT, the details he offered created more questions than answers. Mike O'Hare and Commissioner Santana had been at the academy together. According to Bailey they had been and he believed, were still good friends. Oliver had gotten the impression that neither man was a favourite of Baileys. O'Hare had a string of extra-marital affairs and some had gotten pretty messy. He knew of Marlo's affair, but didn't offer information on a pregnancy so Oliver left that detail out of their conversation. The guy should have had some serious hand slapping come his way, but Bailey figured the Commissioner was always there to smooth things over having worked his way up the ranks. He managed to avoid both personal and professional misconduct allegations. Bailey also suggested Oliver contact O'Hare's ex-wife. He had met her a couple of times and thought she deserved better than what she got from O'Hare, and well sometimes ex-wives are oh so willing to air dirty laundry. Oliver wasn't thrilled about going that route especially considering he had an ex-wife and well, he'd hate to think of someone poking at his business through Zoe…

Sam could certainly understand Oliver's hesitation but they really didn't seem to have many options. They had hoped to find something to clear Marlo and move on, but at this point her involvement was still a possibility, innocent or otherwise. He called Jane O'Hare and she agreed to meet him at a neighborhood coffee shop wanting to avoid the station, any station at all costs.

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><p>Sam sat at a corner table to keep an eye on the door. The wait wasn't long when a classically dressed Jane O'Hare walked in. She was an attractive women with aged eyes that Sam was sure had once been bright and happy.<p>

"Detective Swarek?" she questioned as she offered her hand to Sam.

"Yes, Ms. O'Hare thanks for meeting me. I'm sure this is the last thing you want to be talking about so I will try to take up as little of your time as possible."

"Jane, please call me Jane. You said this has to do with Mike? We have been divorced for almost 5 years now; I'm not sure how I can help you."

"Well it is really that time frame that I need your help with, I don't really know how to ask this but..."

"Just put it out there Detective, I assure you there isn't anything you can tell me that I haven't already spent far too much time crying over."

"Ok, well then, are you aware of an affair your ex-husband had with a colleague during his time as commander of the SWAT team?"

"You're talking about Marlo Cruz?"

"Yes," Sam confirmed cautiously.

"She was the straw that broke the camel's back so to speak. There had always been women and I was stupid enough to think it was better for the children if we stayed together. When I found out she was pregnant, I filed for divorce."

"So you knew about the pregnancy then?"

"I did; she was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at the same time she found out she was pregnant. Apparently the "best" option was to terminate the pregnancy to get her illness under control. A small part of me wondered how she continued to be a cop once she was diagnosed. I mean guns and mental illness are not a safe mix. I guess Mike had Santana to help him clean that mess up too. I figured she kept her job at the expense of getting rid of the baby, a fair trade in some women's minds, and who was I to judge."

Sam listened as a stunned silence settled over him. He really knew so little about Marlo, but to be fair, he had never really asked. "So, do you remember when this was? Month? Year?"

"Of course I do," she confirmed, "October 2009. Can I ask you why you are looking into all of this?"

"I'm sorry, I really can't say. It's part of an ongoing investigation. But I would appreciate it if you didn't share our meeting with anyone, at least for now," Sam softly pleaded.

"Sure, I understand. Detective, I'm sure you already know this, but if you are going after Mike, you need to make sure you have all your ducks in a row. Dot all your i's and cross all your t's and trust no one. He has powerful friends, and I mean everywhere. I may have some documents that will help you but you will need a lot more to bring them all down." She sighed heavily. "I really have to get going to pick my son up for an appointment. Good luck, and I can't stress this enough, be careful."

"Thank you, and if you remember anything else, please call me." Sam added as he passed her his card.

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><p>As Sam drove back to the station, thoughts of his meeting weighed heavily on his mind. Powerful friends, everywhere she had said. What the hell had they fallen into the middle of when they crossed paths with Ted McDonald? He texted Oliver to meet him in the parking lot at the station.<p>

They sat in the truck and Sam relayed his meeting with Jane O'Hare. Poor Oliver, he looked like he hadn't been sleeping and it was only going to get worse after today.

"I think we are still going to need a few more pieces to this puzzle before we talk to Peck Sammy. There has got to be something concrete besides what some might feel are the bitter ramblings of an ex-wife. If I didn't want this staff sergeant job before, you can sure as hell bet I wish I didn't have it now. Listen, I have a meeting downtown. Keep digging, everybody makes mistakes trying to cover their tracks. We just have to find one of those mistakes. I'll talk to you later."

Once back at his desk Sam inked the most important parts of his meeting with Jane O'Hare. They were starting to pile up an awful lot of paperwork and he was beginning to wonder if they had too many pieces to the puzzle and therefore, never solve it.

"Swarek," Dov hollered as he took the stairs to the D's office two at a time. "I found something on the tapes at least I think I found something, maybe. I wish I didn't, but it looks like Marlo was involved, at least in some way. I'm not sure how it fits with everything else but..."

"Epstein just get to the point," Sam interrupted.

"The packaging on the hard drives, it's not the same when she comes out of the lunchroom as it was when she went into the lunchroom. I mean there is clearly something else in between them. She must have got it from Santana when they were in the lunchroom. The extra bulk has got to be the device that went off in evidence."

Sam sunk into his chair. He couldn't believe Marlo was part of this. Andy had been a friend to her, kept her secret and helped him try to protect her job. If Epstein was right, Marlo sent her to the evidence room knowing the danger she was walking into. If she was responsible, that meant he was too.

"Epstein, can you make hard copies of the tapes, before and after shots of the hard drive packaging?"

"Already started working on them before I came to talk to you. I'm sorry it is starting to look like she's involved, I know, actually I don't know at all how you might be feeling. But you just have to remember that whatever happened, it has nothing to do with you. Cruz made her own choices."

"Thanks Epstein, I know what you are trying to do but I really just want to focus on finding out the truth of what happened." Maybe later I'll deal with the why, he thought to himself.

Oliver called and said he wouldn't be back to the station. Meetings were going to carry on till six o'clock and he was going to go straight home form there. Sam briefly told him about Epstein's discovery on the tapes. Oliver wanted to see the hard copies before they went any farther. They would meet for breakfast at Morty's tomorrow and try to figure out what to do next.

Sam really hoped they had enough to bring Peck in now. As he drove home the exhaustion of the day swept over him. They had uncovered some important pieces today and the volume of people involved was piling up. Sam Swarek was a lot of things, but naïve wasn't one of them. He knew corruption was everywhere and sadly almost anyone could be bought for the right price. What he really couldn't shake was the sick feeling in his stomach that he was ultimately responsible for Marlo's involvement, and by extension, his role in Andy being in the evidence room when the bomb went off.

She had been staying at his place since the explosion and would be there when he got home. Sam knew he should be looking forward to seeing her, but right now he was consumed by how on earth he was going to face her…


	5. Chapter 5

**I know this is a short chapter, but stopping at the point I did was the best option. I also tried to interpret the feelings between Sam and Andy in Season 4 episode 11. I may be way off from what the writers intended, but this is what I think they were each feeling.**

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><p>Chapter 5<p>

Andy rolled over to curl into Sam, only to find his side of the bed empty, and cold. She got up and grabbed his sweatshirt in search of the source of the light coming in the bedroom door. She found him on the couch in the living room, but clearly he was oh so far away.

"Hey, I don't like waking up without you beside me, makes me nervous." Nothing. "Sam?"

"Sorry, I didn't hear you come in."

"No kidding, a herd of elephants could have trampled through here and you wouldn't have noticed. What's going on with you? You've been somewhere else since you got home from shift yesterday. Talk to me,...please. Maybe I can help." She hated sounding so desperate, but something was going on and she didn't like where her own thoughts were taking her. Letting things fix themselves never worked between them last time, they couldn't make that mistake again. She tentatively sat on the couch next to him. When he turned to look at her, her heart sank. He looked so lost. She hadn't seen him like that since Jerry died. Andy knew how that story ended and there was no way her heart could survive that again.

"Sam, please. You're scaring the crap out of me."

"I don't even know where to start Andy," he paused. "I guess I thought we could just forget everything that happened last year. Sort of start over and never have to deal with any of it. Since Marlo's return it's becoming more obvious that that is not going to happen. You have to know I never meant to hurt you."

Andy couldn't keep control, the tears that began pooling in her eyes spilled over, and flowed down her cheek. Sam pulled her into his arms and held her as she sobbed uncontrollably.

"You should have told me you still had feelings for her when I asked you at the McDonald's house..." she pulled away, got up and walked to the window. She couldn't even look at him.

"Wait, hey, that's not what I am trying to say here. I love you, and only you. That will never change." Sam paused and tried hard to find the words to explain. "Jesus Andy, things are so screwed up. I don't even know how to tell you, except to just...I um...I may have been responsible for the explosion in evidence."

"That makes no sense Sam, what are you saying? You blew up the hard drives?"

"No, not in the way you think anyway. Just come here, and sit down, please." Sam rubbed his forehead and exhausted a breath he didn't realize he was holding.

Andy crossed the living room and sat at the end of the couch. Sam shuffled towards her and reached for her hands. Holding them tightly in his own he began the conversation he didn't want to have.

"You know Epstein, Oliver and I have been trying to piece together the events following McDonald's arrest." Andy only nodded. "You already know about the judge, and city administrators. We have now uncovered links between Marlo and the Commissioner. It looks like he is friends with someone she was once involved with at SWAT. There are a few other things that link them too, but it is looking more apparent that she may have been aiding Santana to destroy the hard drives before McDonald's apparent suicide."

"Sam, I'm pretty sure I know where you are going with this and there is no way you are responsible for any of it. If Marlo is involved, she made the decision to help the commissioner all on her own. I didn't tell anyone she was bipolar does that make it my fault too. Even if she had some emotional problems that might cause her to lash out at us, we can't keep blaming ourselves for choosing to take a second chance on each other. Somehow she got back on the job in spite of everything that happened at 15. I really don't think this has nothing to do with us getting back together. I don't regret it, and I hope that you wouldn't either."

"Of course I don't. Andy last year as soon as you got back from Dakota, I knew trying to move on from you with Marlo was a mistake. When I saw you in the back of the truck at the warehouse I knew there would never be anyone else. I was still so dam mad that you had taken off after everything I tried to do to fix us. So I threw myself deeper into that relationship. Oliver had warned me to not start something when my something else wasn't finished but I ignored him. I pulled Marlo in closer and by the time Oliver called me out on my crap at his cabin, the damage was already done. I needed to come clean to you and to Marlo but then you called me about her breakdown and well we know how that all ended."

"I called you because I knew you would know what to do. In spite of everything that happened between us, you have to know that," Andy interrupted.

"I know, and when I saw you after you changed Marlo's notes, I was sure things with us were destroyed for good. I knew you would never forgive me for putting you in that position but I had to try to help her. I was so removed from my relationship with Marlo that I didn't even notice her breaking down. Guilt is a powerful motivator and I had to at least try and save her career."

"I thought you were in love with her and that you knew I still had feelings for you and that you used those feelings to help your girlfriend. I was so mad at myself for letting you use me that way. I vowed to stay as far away from you as I could, as a matter of self preservation."

"Andy, I didn't know that's what you were feeling. You and Collins were clearly more than friends and looked happy together. It was quite obvious, to me at least, you had moved on. I asked for your help because you had kept Marlo's secret till then and I trusted you to have her back. If I thought for one second she was involved in Ford's assault, I wouldn't have tried to help her."

"I know Sam, at least I do now. I guess I should have then too, it wasn't that long ago that you helped me with my dad and the Kaliciak case. It was just such a messed up time, for all of us."

"But you know what, I think that's enough talk about the things we can't change. Sam, it's all in the past and right now all that matters is that we are together. I'm here to listen, but you have got to stop blaming yourself for things you can't possibly control. Look, we still have three hours till the alarm goes off let's try and get some sleep. OK?"

He got up off the couch, pulled her up with him and kissed her softly. "Sleep does sound good right now. I'd really like to sleep till this over, but I guess till the alarm goes off will have to do."

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><p>"So I will see you after my doctor's appointment. I am really hoping I'll need to bring Oliver the paperwork to clear me for duty, maybe I could bring you some lunch?"<p>

"Just come find me when you get here and maybe I can take a lunch break with you."

"Sure and thanks again for letting me use your truck. It just takes so long on the bus."

"Andy, you don't have to thank me , or even ask me. When you need the truck, it's yours. Ok? Besides, I like you driving me to work. It gives us extra time together, at least till your back fulltime."

As they pulled into the station, Andy did a u-turn, gave Sam a quick kiss and dropped him near the Sally port. She saw Gail crossing the parking lot, she shot her a friendly wave and headed into the street. While making his way into the station, Sam was intercepted by a very anxious Epstein.

"Detective, I've been looking all over for you, I thought you would have been in early today."

"It was a kinda rough night last night Epstein, what did you need?"

"Officer Cruz left me a message on my cell this morning. She wants to meet me for lunch today. I thought I should check with you and Oliver before I called her back."


	6. Chapter 6

I am very apprehensive about this chapter. Took me along time to post it and almost feel the need to run for cover from the fall out over it. I'm sorry that people don't like Andy and Sam as a couple, but I am pure McSwarek and so is my story.

I do not own Rookie Blue.

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><p>"Maybe it has nothing to do with McDonald. Maybe there's an opening in the intelligence department. Cruz knew I was interested, we even talked about it when she was here, or maybe she just wants to ask about Chloe and me, maybe...I don't know?"<p>

Sam listened to Epstein as Oliver paced incessantly back and forth in his office. He couldn't help the uneasy feeling in his stomach that this case really was becoming too much for just the three of them. He hoped Oliver would allow him to talk to Steve Peck, but his constant pacing wasn't giving Sam any clue at all.

"I'm wondering what she wants too Dov, and I gotta say, I don't like any of the scenarios I'm coming up with. When we started looking into this, I don't think any of us thought it was going to get this big. I know I didn't. If the commissioner really is involved, I think it's obvious he will stop at nothing to cover his tracks. We all have family, friends, and we have their safety to think about.

"Well, I could at least call her and try to get a sense of things over the phone. You guys will listen in and give me the go ahead to arrange to meet her. If you don't think it's a good idea, I'll tell her I thought it was about an opening and just let it slide after that. OK?"

Sam finally interrupted, "Oliver we have to at least let Epstein call Marlo. We'll listen in and if it has anything to do with the case, we can wire him for the meeting. I'm as worried as you are about where this is going, but we can't just leave it alone. Someone may have killed McDonald, in cold blood, in our custody. Somehow we have got to get to the bottem of it and I know you know we're doing the right thing."

"All right, call her Epstein," Oliver offered with resignation in his voice.

Sam and Dov sat in at his desk going over questions, answers and possibilities for his meeting with Marlo. The phone conversation was brief, and unfortunately shed absolutely no light on why Marlo wanted to see him. She only confirmed it wasn't something to discuss on the telephone.

"Hey guys," came the unmistakeable cheeriness of Andy McNally.

"Hey" they replied in unison as they turned to see Andy quickly heading their way.

"How was your appointment?" coming only from Sam, as she leaned down to kiss him on the cheek.

"Good to go, I just handed my stuff in to Oliver and I'll be back on rotation as of tomorrow. He's going to put me on desk duty for at least a week, and then we'll see."

Sam tried to suppress his smile too late. Andy caught him before he could look away and flashed him a disapproving snarl.

"So you're here to take me out for lunch?" Sam asked, changing the subject.

"Yup, Dov you wanna join us?

"Can't, sorry. Chloe is in booking today, so we have plans already."

"Maybe next time then, ready Detective?"

"Let's go," and with that Sam laced his hand through Andy's and led them through the station and out to the parking lot.

"You guys sure looked deep into something when I showed up. Anything you want to share."

"Not really," he smirked at her. "Can we just go to lunch and talk about something that isn't work." Sam really didn't want to talk about Marlo Cruz with Andy. They were putting more time and space between the them now and all that had happened in the last year, and he wanted to keep it that way.

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><p>Epstein had called Marlo after lunch. She sounded incredibly anxious and insisted on meeting him right away. Sam and Oliver agreed letting him meet her for a coffee was going to be their final attempt to unearth the details surrounding McDonald's death. The evidence trail was running dry. Even with the pieces they had uncovered, it was all too circumstantial and could be explained away too easily. They really needed a definitive piece to the puzzle and hoped Marlo would provide it.<p>

"I'm glad you agreed to meet me. I wasn't sure you would after the way I took off after the McDonald case ended."

"What can I say; I'm curious what you wanted to talk about."

"Epstein you have to know it wasn't easy for me to be working at 15 after everything that happened there. Then you found the sonogram in my stuff and all I could think about was all the other parts of my past that were going to be exposed. I am sorry I took off on you without an explanation."

"Maybe it wasn't really my business anyway," Dov said as he shuffled nervously in his chair.

"Your opinion matters to me Epstein, and I wanted to try and explain things to you. Ok?"

Dov only nodded, hoping his silence would encourage Marlo to continue.

"Several years ago when I was with SWAT, I was having an affair with my supervisor, Mike O'Hare. I got pregnant, and that's also when I was diagnosed as being bipolar. It was really messy because Mike was married. He was friends with Commissioner Santana since the academy and he helped Mike sweep it all under the rug, although he was just a white shirt then. I got to keep my job as long as I terminated the pregnancy, stayed out of Mike's divorce, and left SWAT. I made sure to stay off everybody's radar after that just do the job you know...until all the stuff at 15 went down I had everything under control."

As Marlo continued bearing her soul, Dov couldn't help but feel sorry for her. She seemed to have a knack for falling for men who couldn't commit to her and she was clearly struggling to keep her illness in check.

"Commissioner Santana is the only reason I'm still on the force after everything with Kevin Ford. He had me transferred to Intelligence, said it would be a good fit since I really shouldn't be carrying a gun anymore. I didn't realize it at the time, but apparently that transfer had strings attached."

"What do you mean?" Dov asked quietly. He was pretty sure this was the part of her story they really needed uncovered and although he was becoming more anxious, keeping Marlos's trust in him meant staying calm.

"He wanted me to be his eyes at Intelligence. Said he had them in every department and needed me to be his there. Then after the explosion at McDonald's mother's house Santana sent me there to cover it for Intelligence. He wanted all the details surrounding the attempt on Duncan's life and if I managed to make things difficult for McNally in the process that would be an added bonus, for both of us."

Marlo smiled as she said the last part and that didn't go unnoticed by Dov. He knew she was hurt after things fell apart with Swarek, but he really hoped this was about more than jealousy over him and Andy. He needed to ask the one question that had been on all their minds since the explosion. The conversation was certainly heading there, so in a careful voice he asked, "Marlo, you were the one to tell Andy to go to evidence to get the hard drives, you have to know how that looks."

"It wasn't anything like that Epstein, you have to believe me. I thought I was over it all, but working with McNally got to me. It was almost like I couldn't breathe around her, so I told Sam maybe she could get them. I also wanted to talk to Sam alone, but he followed McNally, just like he always did. Maybe I was still hoping for something that was never really there in the first place."

Dov sat there in silence. He really didn't know what to say to her. While he felt bad for Marlo, Andy and Swarek would always be. He knew it five years ago when they were all rookies. They had an undeniable connection even back then. Even with all Marlo had divulged and the why of it, he couldn't shake the sick feeling that she was still holding something back.

"It's ok Dov, I get it. You and McNally are friends and you're loyal to her…I'm just kinda talking my self through it all anyway. Look I appreciate you meeting me and thanks for listening to me. I gotta get going." She stood up and turned to grab her purse off the chair.

Dov knew he may not get another chance and while he would have liked to confirm with Sam and Oliver he was doing the right thing,..."Marlo, did the commissioner say anything to you about the hard drives when he got to the station after McDonald was picked up? You know, did you run into him at all after you bagged them up?"

She turned back quickly, purse over her shoulder with a deer in the headlights look in her eyes.

"Don't think so, at least no that I recall. See ya later," she called to him as she quickly headed for the door.

Dov knew he had jolted something in her memory and she couldn't get out of their fast enough. While he didn't know Marlo all that well something was clearly hanging over her. The look on her face was a mirror to the one he'd seen when he had asked her about the sonogram in McDonald's file.

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><p>As they listened to the recording of Marlo's meeting with Epstein, Sam and Oliver were both pleased and dejected. They were clearly on the right course but Marlo hadn't come clean about her interaction with Santana in the lunch room and that was key.<p>

"Oliver I really think we should get Peck involved, both he and his parents have connections that reach a lot farther than you or me. There has to be a money trail between the Irish and Santana. If we can find that trail we might be able to use it to encourage Marlo to come completely clean about what happened in the lunch room. She's got to be worried how expendable she might be to Santana too."

"I agree with Swarek, bring Peck in with some Guns and Gangs excuse and use the family Intel to find the money. There is no way to hide that much money. Somewhere, somebody has to have slipped up," Dov insisted.

"Ok, but let's not go beyond Steve Peck, for now. Epstein see if you can find him in the station." Oliver waved his hand as he motioned Dov out the door.

"Jesus Sammy, I don't know about you, but when I joined the force it was to Serve and Protect. In my worst nightmare I didn't think we'd be protecting ourselves from the corruption that is at the top of the TPS."

"That's why we can't just leave it alone Oliver,"...Sam says, as his phone goes off. "I think I better take this, it's Jane O'Hare."


End file.
